


Until I See You Again

by MJosephine10



Category: The Vampire Diaries
Genre: F/M, because I love pain and crying and delena softness, i love them so much i will write bad fic for them, i wanted to add another scene to their goodbye in 6x22, in true tvd fashion i tried to make sure they said each other's names a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 15:16:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16789504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MJosephine10/pseuds/MJosephine10
Summary: Damon and Elena say goodbye. They can't quite keep dancing.





	Until I See You Again

I

_You could have just told me what to do._

_I knew what you were going to do._

_You knew that the evil, selfish Damon Salvatore would give up the love of his life to save her best friend?_

_I knew that the love of my life would stand by his best friend even if it meant having to live without me for a little while._

II

They sat side by side on the swing on Elena’s old porch.

(They had been dancing together on the road where they first met, until, suddenly, they hadn't been.

Unable to keep going, Elena whispered with tears in her eyes “Can we go somewhere else?” Unable to speak, Damon had merely nodded in assent.)

The world shifted around them until it brought them here. _Home_.

Within a second Elena’s head was on his shoulder, her hand in his. The sky was a vast sparkle of stars; the creak of the swing and the quiet humming of a summer night wrapped themselves around them.

Damon felt the comforting weight of her against him, solid and real and warm.

A memory sparked inside him- the night he almost died from the werewolf bite and Elena had refused to leave him.

Like now, she had put her head on his shoulder and reached for his hand.

She had said nothing she shouldn’t have, given no empty promises, betrayed no faith or vow but she had told him that she loved him, that he wasn't alone.

And in that moment, with Elena by his side, some shard of glass that had been lodged in Damon's heart for over a century revealed itself to be ice that could and did melt in her warmth.

Gratitude for the memory and then a flash of terror followed themselves in quick succession through his heart. 

He wanted to be strong; he should be strong; he would be strong- for her. She deserved that.

But he was about to trade the warmth of Elena by his side for the coldness of his solitary heart and it felt like the pain of a wound, long-healed, ripped open again. 

For a moment, his mind darted between acceptance and escape- torn between Elena’s hand in his, her head on his shoulder, the night sky around them, the comforting weight of her against his side, and the knowledge that soon all of that- her- would be gone and he’d be here alone. 

_Alone_.

For a moment, his mind began to turn down the old path of pain and cruelties.

“Damon?” Elena’s voice cut through his thoughts.

He came to himself suddenly. _Cut the melodrama. At least until she’s gone_. _She doesn’t deserve this_.

He pressed a kiss to her glossy hair to steady him, breathing her in, before he answered, as casually as he could, “Hmm?”

He could do this. He _could_.

“Damon, can I ask you something? Can you do me a favor while I’m...” she hesitated and took a brave and only slightly shaky breath. “While I’m gone?”

 _Please don’t tell me to be happy_ , he thought desperately. _Anything but that._

Aloud, he only said, “What is it, light of my life?”

It was lightly said, with Elena alone knowing how much he meant it; Elena alone always saw the bleeding heart under the casual sarcasm. She squeezed his hand.

“I need you-“ her voice caught so she tried again, more resolutely this time. “While I’m gone, I need you to be kind to yourself.” 

“Be...kind to myself.” He repeated it as though he understood but he didn’t.

“Listen to me.” She sat up straighter and put both hands on his shoulders, turning him towards her as she did so. Her gaze was clear, her jaw set and tears stood in her eyes.

Damon knew he was not getting out of this. He felt the sincerity radiating off of her, felt her Elena warmth and deliberateness pull him in and hold him fast, gentle and yet unbreakable as any force. Whatever she wanted he would give her.

“I’m going to be gone for sixty years at least, maybe more, and I cannot bear the thought of you miserable and alone all that time. I can’t bear it, Damon.”

Her hands holding him trembled slightly.

"I won't be here to make sure you're okay and I'll have no way of knowing how you're doing and Damon, I need you to do this for me. _Please_." 

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face, trying to memorize every detail of her face like she wasn't already etched indelibly on his heart.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Okay.”

 _Be kind to himself._ He had no idea what that looked like; he wasn't even sure if it was possible at all. But if this was the last thing he could give her, he had to do it. 

He kissed her quietly. 

Then, he took her face in his hands, rested his forehead against hers, and felt the weight in his heart lift a little.

“I _promise,_ Elena _._ I will be kind to myself. For _you_. Happy now?”

“Yes,” Elena said.

And through her tears she smiled.

III

_Are you ready for this?_

_Ready to spend the next sixty years of my life without you in it._

_Who’s ever going to be ready for that?_


End file.
